WHY SO YOUNG?

Often, as I cross Indiana and 3^rd Street I remember a record store (if you are under 35 and you do not know what those would be then ask someone who looks like they might know an LP from a 45!) that used to sit on the corner across from the law school.

I actually went in there one afternoon and asked if they had a record by a country and western singer named Skitter Davis.  The record was It’s Hard to be a Woman.  When I made my request the clerk looked at me and simply said, “It certainly is.”  The song was an early feminist statement from Nashville.

I also remember buying a very popular record by a very popular group.  I played the music over and over and soon became bored with it.  Familiarity did  -indeed- breed contempt.  There was nothing new to discover in the music or the lyrics.

It’s not that way with the Bible or with the story of Jesus.  How many times have we heard the story of Mary, the angels, Joseph, the shepherds, Herod, and the wisemen and yet the drama continues to surprise and puzzle and inspire us.  We notice things we missed before.  The characters, the activity of God, raise questions we have never asked before.  There always seems to be something new God has for us in the Jesus story.

This week our ministry team at FUMCB/The Open Door was meeting for devotions in the sanctuary, and we began talking about how young Mary was when the angel visited her.
“Why would God choose someone so young?” I kept asking myself.

I think I have the answer!  When we are young we still believe in the impossible.  When we are young we are full of dreams.  As we grow older we often become more wise, but I also think we tend to more easily dismiss the idea of angels, of miracles, of new discoveries.  Not always…Moses still turned aside when he was up in years.  Abram and Sarai moved west late in life because of God’s nudge.

But the young seem especially open to dreams, to possibilities, to new worlds, to God, and to angels.  A friend told me his 5-year old grandson turned to him and said, “You know God talks to me in the night?”

God, save me from being settled, cynical, and so wise that I close my head to all mysteries deep and true.  Place in the bones of this veteran an openness to the holy and good.  Give me a young heart that is open to what-may-be with you.

Grace always in Christ,

Mark